Caroline Flint MP and Tom Greatrex MP visited Hinkley C
and the Energy and Skills Centre at Bridgwater College, on Tuesday 17th
December. The aim of the visit was a fact finding tour, to establish the full
impact of the Energy infrastructure project. The team were impressed with the
developments at Bridgwater College and how local people could obtain training
and skills to move into the Energy industry.

Mick discusses the issues with Tom Greatrex MP

Mick Lerry, leader of Sedgemoor Labour group and PPC for Bridgwater and West Somerset, said: "Members of the Labour Group were
able to discuss the implications of the construction stage of Hinkley C and how
it was important to avoid "boom and bust". We were able to explain
the importance of Community Benefit during the construction stage of the power
station. Highlighting the fact that Bridgwater and surrounding area should be
recognised as an Enterprise or Business Zone, able to retain all the business
rates to invest back into the local economy".

Both MPs were interested in the proposals put forward by
the Labour Group and another meeting will be scheduled in early 2014 to discuss
the matter further.

Monday, 16 December 2013

Mick Lerry, Labour Parliamentary candidate for Bridgwater & West Somerset, has called on the Government to take action to make home
ownership a realistic aspiration for working people and rents more affordable
by building much needed homes.

According
to independent experts, under the current Government we are building less than
half the homes a year we need to meet demand. The gap between the number of
homes we build each year and what we need is unprecedented at over 100,000 each
year.

A
housing shortage, combined with the cost of living crisis – with falling wages
and rising bills – is making rents increasingly expensive and putting home
homeownership out of reach for millions of working people.

Back in 1997
it took an average family just three years to save for a proper deposit on a
home but today it takes 22 years. Private sector rents are now at the highest
level ever recorded.

One Nation Labour has plans to increase the supply of new homes in
England above 200,000 a year by the end of the next Parliament. To ensure plans
are in place on day one of a Labour Government, Ed Miliband today, Monday 16th
December 2013, launched a Housing Commission chaired by Sir Michael Lyons has
been launched to draw up a road map for delivering this ambition.

Mick Lerry, said:

“The security of knowing you can afford
to live in your home is the cornerstone of a strong society. It’s a basic
aspiration that working people want for themselves and their children – one
that should be open to everyone.

“Many people in Bridgwater and West
Somerset are facing a cost of living crisis and are struggling with housing
costs. By getting Britain building again a Labour Government will help tackle
ever-spiralling private rents and will make home ownership an achievable dream
once more for those that are currently priced out.”

Ed Miliband MP, Leader of the Labour Party, said:

“David Cameron is presiding over the
lowest levels of homes built in peacetime since the 1920s and already families
are suffering from some of the worst housing shortages for a generation. This
is now part of a cost-of-living crisis for millions of people for whom the
dream of home ownership is fading into the distance.

“At this time of year, when family is
so important, there are parents who fear their children will never get a place
of their own. And there are millions of young people who fear they may never be
able to get on the housing ladder; never able to invite their parents round for
Christmas dinner.

“If families are to prosper and our country is
to succeed, Britain needs new homes.”

Saturday, 14 December 2013

Many households will be
going into debt this winter because of the increasing cost of energy. Even
where energy companies have reduced the price, because of the withdrawal of the
Green levy, the increase in energy is still above inflation. Many people in
rural areas havelimited
options for fuel, many of which lack mains gas. The Green levy helps to make
efficient use of fuel, which is particularly important for countryside
communities and residents on low incomes.

At the same time a committee of MPs has accused ministers of "shifting the
goalposts" to reduce the number of households in England classed as in
fuel poverty. The definition of fuel poverty would be changed by amendments to
the Energy Bill so that 2.4 million were classed as fuel poor rather than 3.2
million.

Labour candidate for Bridgwater and West Somerset , Mick Lerry said: "The government plans to reduce energy bills by an average of £50 a year
in an effort to offset rising costs, is not enough. Labour’s energy price freeze is needed.
Labour's price freeze would save money for 27 million households and 2.4
million businesses and our plans to reset the market will deliver fairer prices
in the future”.

MP CALLED ON TO ACT

"Ian Liddell-Grainger MP
needs to represent the community by asking the Government to sort out the
Energy market to protect people from fuel and financial poverty."

Cllr Mick Lerry, Leader of
the Labour Group on SDC and Labour Prospective Parliamentary Candidate for
Bridgwater and West Somerset.